8 & Under (8U) Mites & Atoms Development Program

Online registration opens in May – Simply create an account and sign up. Use the Registration link on the left or in the top navigation.

Registration for Cross Ice & Half Ice remains open throughout the season

Registering for the Mite Travel Tryouts coincides with our Regular Tryout Procedure.Mite Travel tryouts will be held April 30th and May 2nd.Register for Mite Travel Tryouts on The Registration link.

8U Age Groups:

Cross Ice (Up & Coming): 6 years and younger

Half Ice (Seasoned Veterans): 7 and 8 year olds

8U Mite Travel: 6 to 8 year olds

Exceptions: Because children begin playing hockey at varying ages, players are grouped both by age and ability into our “Up and Coming” and “Seasoned Veterans” groups. This means a brand new 8 year old could be placed in the Up & Coming group to grant him or her the focused development of skills needed to progress in learning how to play hockey.

Equipment:

Check out our Getting Started page to view all required protective hockey gear and a USA Hockey video showing you how to get your player dressed.

Jerseys:

Cross Ice and Half Ice Rec jerseys and socks are distributed during the first two weeks of practice. They are supplied by the club and do not need to be ordered.

Travel jerseys and socks are ordered by parents on our website once Mite Travel Teams are chosen. Our Mite Coordinator will hold a meeting with the parents of Travel Team participants to provide information about the season and jersey orders.

Timeline Overview Cross Ice:

Season begins the first weekend of October

Season concludes at the end of February

Timeline Overview Half Ice:

Season begins the first weekend of October

Season concludes at the end of February

Timeline Overview Mite Travel:

Season Begins in September with Mite Travel Practices for the month of September.Mite Travel Games begin in October, and Run thru February.

Season concludes at the beginning of March with a Chesapeake Bay Hockey League (CBHL) Jamboree

Mite Travel players attend the Thursday and Saturday ice sessions. Travel players will also have a separate practice on Sunday mornings. Mite Travel games take precedence over Saturday morning Half Ice games.

For full descriptions of the BYHC 8U hockey program, please see below.

8U Cross Ice (Up & Comers) Development Program

The Cross Ice program provides the beginning skater (any age), with an introduction to the sport of hockey in a fun filled environment. Skaters receive instruction on basic hockey skating skills: forwards, backwards, stops and turns. They are taught basic stick handling, passing and shooting skills. Practices consist of traditional hockey drills interspersed with fun games utilizing the skills they are taught in accordance with USA Hockey ADM. (American Development Model)

To be clear, Cross Ice takes all beginning skaters, but we strongly encourage parents to utilize the local Learn to Skate classes prior to signing up for the 8U Development Program. A good litmus test would be: your child should be able to get to a standing position on their own after a fall and move around the ice without external support.

The season begins in October and runs through theend of February. Practices are held on Thursday evenings at Reisterstown Sportsplex, and Saturday morning games are held at Mount Pleasant Ice Arena. We also strive to schedule at least two inter-club jamborees during the season.

The club strives to provide as much individual attention as possible by involving many coaches on the ice. The Cross Ice program is an exceptional introduction to ice hockey for both the parent and skater.

8U Half Ice (Seasoned Veterans) Development Program

The Half Ice program, for more advanced skaters usually aged 7 & 8, continues to develop the basic skating skills learned at the Cross Ice level. Skaters are taught edge control (a hockey skate has an outside and inside edge with a hollow center) and forward and backward crossovers. Puck control, passing and receiving, shooting, non-body contact checking and basic goal tending are introduced at this level.

Skaters learn basic team play concepts and positions. Generally, at the start of the year the Half Ice team looks like a scrum or bee swarm chasing the puck. By the end of the year, the skaters are in their respective positions, passing the puck and demonstrating the fundamentals of team play. Some of the greatest strides in basic skill development and team play occur at the Half Ice level.

BYHC has fully embraced this reduced playing field at the 8 & Under levels, as recommended by USA hockey. We utilize rink dividers in order to create a smaller playing surface so every player is afforded more touches of the puck.

The Half Ice and Cross Ice schedules are the same. The season begins in October and runs through theend of February. Practices are held on Thursday evenings at Reisterstown Sportsplex, and Saturday morning games are held at Mount Pleasant Ice Arena. We also strive to schedule at least two inter-club jamborees during the season.

8U Mite Travel

For those players with interest in additional practices and more advanced inter-club game play, BYHC offers a September tryout for Mite Travel teams. We usually field two Mite Travel teams each season, and these players face teams from other clubs generally in the Baltimore- Washington area. The games are played on half ice in accordance with USA Hockey ADM guidelines. For more on USA Hockey ADM please follow this link www.admkids.com.

The travel is usually limited to within one hour from any of our home rinks (Mt Pleasant, Reisterstown and Patterson Park). In order to participate in the 8U Travel Program, parents are expected to pay a fee to cover game costs and jerseys. For specifics on fees, please visit our registration page.